One of the largest natural history museums in Switzerland, housed in a fine 19th-century building in the old town. The collections cover zoology, mineralogy, palaeontology, and anthropology, with impressive fossil displays and a well-stocked mineral gallery. The ornithology section is particularly strong.
Good value and well organised, it makes a pleasant hour or two away from the art museums. Combined with the nearby Museum der Kulturen — in the same building complex — you can cover both in a half-day. The dinosaur skeletons upstairs are popular with children.